I am on deck. The time has ran out. Two outs. Lou, the girl in the batter's box, bunts and gets on. I am walking up to the plate. We are playing are rival, Victory, to get to the championship. The score is tied and bases are loaded. I watch the first pitch, like I always do. Ball. The next pitch was right down the middle. I step out of the box cursing at myself to swing the bat. The pitcher, Alana, was once a team mate of mine just last year. She threw me high knowing that was my weakness but I held back. I remember having difficulty deciding whether the ump was calling ball or strike because he wore a big mask in front of his mouth. The count is now 2-1. Before stepping into the box I took a deep breath with a quick prayer. There was a moment …show more content…
in time when everything was still and silent. I looked at the pitcher.
My teammates parents holding their breath hoping that will help me. My heart was pounding and I was thinking of everything and nothing at the same time. The pitch was coming outside. I made contact, not as good as I wanted. The ball was hit hard to the shortstop. When I turned out of the box to run to first I thought to myself this is gonna be a close one. This is when the silence stopped. Everyone in the stands was yelling, cheering me to run fast. There was a time in my softball career when I could finally hear if I was out or safe. Paying close attention to the sound of the base, sometimes hard like cardboard, sometimes soft like a pillow. This one was hard and almost sounded hollow when I stepped on it. Not even a millisecond later I heard the ball slam into the first baseman's glove. I broke down after the bag and looked directly at the ump on the opposite side of the field. He threw his arms up and waved them horizontally, yelling,”SAFE!” My team ran out to clap the other team's hands trying hard not boast to them. Running towards my teammates, my first base coach slap me right on the butt so hard I jumped up a little. After the game he made sure to say sorry to both my mom and me for it. Then like always, Terry, my coach, talked to us about the
game.
It was our last game of pool play on the second day of the tournament, and the other team’s pitcher was a friend of mine so I was excited to go against her. It had been a long day so I wasn’t in the field, but my coach left me in the batting line up. A few innings in it was my turn to bat, so I jogged out on the field, calm and confident that I would do well. After a few pitches I ended up with two strikes on me and I was getting nervous about the outcome of my at bat. The next pitch came and I made solid contact, so on instinct I started my sprint towards first base.
Standing in the batter box, anxious. Looking forward I see the pitching machine signaling green. First ball comes almost nailing me in the thighs, but lucky enough I was able to get out quickly. I wasn’t ready for such a fastball. I just kept my cool and kept swinging. And that was when I heard “CLANG!”, my first ball hit went straight back at the pitching machine.
As I lay on my bed, that night I could still hear the umpire calling “ballgame” and solidifying victory and our mark on Mountain Grove Softball history. The adrenaline and excitement of the moment were still running through my veins as my mind started to drift. I soon found myself thinking of
Top of the lineup now, Jackie’s up, then me, then Ashley. We have a chance. One out, no runners on, Jackie bunts and is called safe at first. My turn. Shaking and feeling like I’m gonna barf, I walk up to the plate. Six pitches
The fifth inning they went up on us three runs, and after that we returned scored one run. The following inning they added another run to the board then we struck back with a run. At that point the last inning came and we got three outs on them and we came fixing to make something happen. Our first runner got on base with a walk then the following hitter hit it into a double play. At that point our next runner gets on base with a single, and I come up and get a three-two count and I battle off another strike, then I see a curveball off the pitchers hand and I swing as hard as I could. At that point, "bam" went the ball down the first base line to the fence. Our lead runner comes in for a score and as im passing second I look back to where the ball was and the ball was getting thrown in. Sliding into third I hear the third baseman catch the ball, in a split second I slide off the base and he puts a tag on me for the ball game.
All we had to do was beat a team we had beat numerous times before and then we would be in the finals. Easy right? So we thought. Going into that game I did not expect to feel the heartbreak that I did when it ended. Finally, game day had arrived; in the first inning, things seemed to be going as planned, we were up five or six runs. By the fourth inning, we were down nine to five and it only went downhill from there. My heart started to ache and the feeling of frustration flew through my body. As the ninth inning rolled around we were still losing and we could not get it
I looked in their faces and knew mine mirrored theirs. I didn’t want it to, but it did. Just ten minutes ago, we all were so jubilant. We were so sure we were going to win. We had all wanted it for so long, but we finally felt is as our destiny just a few moments ago. But as our opponent threw the ball in the air, I knew she was just about to serve another ace. However, when the ball landed three feet in front of our best passer, something snapped inside of me.
The announcer began announcing our team to start the introduction for the game. Since I was the lead-off batter, my name was echoed over the park first. It was at this time that the feeling elevated; the feeling that makes every baseball field so special. As my teammates yelled for me, while I ran to the nearest baseline and faced the crowd, the feeling gave me goose bumps and raised the hairs on the back of my neck. The feeling is so amazing that it will keep me playing baseball for as long as possible because it makes my love for the sport that much more. I can't even begin to explain the complex feeling I get when I walk on a baseball field, but that feeling will always be cherished and hopefully when I pass on my love of baseball to others, they will too understand what that special diamond makes me feel like.
The horn blew and the game started, Dedham won the face off and is running down the field at a faster pace than I was used to. They shot the ball! I couldn’t move my stick quick enough to save it, so I threw my body in front of it and got hit right in the shoulder. It hurt a lot, but what I hadn’t realized was that it hit my shoulder and reflected ten feet away from the net where my player caught it and ran down the field and scored. The other team didn’t know what hit them. It was the half now and the score was three to nothing in our favor. Our couch told us that we needed to keep up the good work.
Our All-Star team made it to State which was held in the warm July sun down in Terre Haute, Indiana. Pete, a short red haired kid was my best friend at the time, he would play second base and I would be the shortstop, we were the best two players on the team and we always had each other’s back. Before our first game at State, Pete and I always did our handshake but this time it felt more special because we were both so hype and caught up in the moment that all I remember him saying was “It’s your world. Get on base and let me hit you in, let’s go!” I was always the number one hitter and Pete was number two, the best two baseball players, so we were the ones carrying the team. To start off the game, I hit a double off the wall, pointed at the dugout and my teammates went crazy. The families in the stands started chanting, and it felt like I was on top of the world. Next batter is Pete, he gets a fastball over the plate and belts it into right field, I score and start clapping and our team is going ballistic as we started the game off to a quick 1-0 start. We all thought we had this game in the bag. After the top of the first we were on defense. Our best pitcher was on the mound and everyone in
So, we went up to the plate, I was batting sixth, and went down in order. The team morale had gone from high and confident to rather low and worried. The game dragged on into the fifth inning and we were still behind by three. Now it was time to bear d...
When the World Series arrived we lost three games in a row. The Red Sox were almost guaranteed to win the championship and sweep us. But we came back, and our team was on fire. We won three games straight just like they did. It was game seven and it was our time to shine. The Headlines were all about us. The biggest headline of all was “ The Legend VS. The Rookie.” As i thought back I remembered Clayton Kershaw will pitch against us in game seven. The crowd roared as we run out onto the field. Suntrust park was jam packed for game seven. Since we were the home team the Red Sox hit first. We retired the side 3 up 3 down. Thanks to the tremendous pitching of Julio Teheran. As we went up to bat the stadium was trembling. I was batting third in the lineup,
With seconds to spare I arrived at batting practice and began to prepare for my game. I hear coach call out my name and as I he acknowledged that I was there he told me I was pitching. My brain shifted and went into a whole new mode, I was more focused and more determined than I have ever been. This was the biggest baseball game of my career and I 'm starting on the mound. Honestly it couldn 't have turned out any better, the fate of the pin and my team lied in my hands and I loved the pressure. The pressure made me thrive and before I knew it our team was marching onto the field for the national anthem. During the singing of the national anthem I peeked into the crowd and first row down the first base side was the little boy I met on the cart and his dad sitting right next to him. This game was for that little boy, I needed to impress him. I pitched six strong innings and my team ended up winning the game. It was the most exciting game of my career and the best part was being greeted with the best pin in the tournament after such a spectacular win. The little boy ran out into the middle of the field where we shook our opponents hands and in front of everyone in the stadium handed me the only thing I cared about besides winning. I was in the best mood for the rest of the day and I rewarded myself with a nice long sleep. I could only image what the next day had to
I had not much time to think so I just acted! I swung the bat hard making contact with the ball and as I felt the adrenaline pumping through my veins I looked out to deep right field where the ball had sailed over the right fielder's head. When I seen the ball drop down the foul line and my teammate running home I knew I did it. I was as much emotional as I was proud for myself as I stood on the base and waited for my team to rush the field. I felt the best I had in a long time! Everything worked out just as I had wished and dreamed of it for so long.In all the midst of the cheering, yelling, and chaos I was at peace and felt the proudest of my life as I stood like a statue on that field looking like one of the joyful men on the face of the Earth that night. Everything had just happened so quickly it was almost hard to process it all at one time. I was almost shook with emotion that night and it took a lot of power to keep from going crazy because of all the happiness that night had brought
My days began with going to the gym early in the mornings and going to the park to practice my batting swings and catches in the evening. I even managed to save up some allowance money to spend on the high school’s softball summer camps. However, my time fell short, and the day of the infamous tryouts had begun. My rambling thoughts were running bases through my head. How will I try out in front of hundreds of other girls? Will they laugh at me? Would I even make it? Will my friends make it? While my anxiety got the better of me, the head coach yelled out my name, and I slowly and steadily walked up to the batting box, and got ready for the pitcher to toss a fastball at me. Time slowed down as I anticipated the pitch; my fingers almost lost the grip on my bat waiting, but then, I saw the softball coming my way. I took a deep breath, and I hit it as hard and as fast as I could; it made it all the way to the outfield. I stood there shocked that I could do that, grinned ear to ear, and did a little happy dance on my way back to the line. My friends were celebrating and came up to high-five me when I got to the end of the line, and the varsity first basemen, a celebrity in my eyes, came up and complimented me on how far I hit the softball. A varsity member had spoken to me.